Athletic endeavors such as golf, bowling, tennis and dancing require the use of multi-stepped synchronized movements to achieve a particular result. The level of success that an individual will experience in the particular athletic endeavor is directly affected by the ability of the person to repetitively and uniformly reproduce the necessary movements with the proper timing. A device which can provide an audible and visual signal which accurately represents the timing of the multiple steps required to perform complex activities such as golf, bowling and the like would greatly aid in developing and maintaining the appropriate timing for that endeavor.
For example, a golfer, during the off-season in the northern latitudes, must practice indoors. The indoor golfer will soon begin to rush the backswing and downswing for the flight of the ball is no longer observable. The flight of the ball is what is used to determine if the ball is being struck correctly. However, a pacing timer which accurately reflects the proper timing of the steps being used would insure that a golfer would be less likely to speed up the swing during the off-season. Thus, a device which can assist in synchronizing and maintaining complex movements could serve both as a training tool and a diagnostic aid for a trainer and/or user.
Today, there are a number of training tapes which have been created by professional athletes. These training tapes demonstrate the proper methods and timing, but the individual has no tool with which to precisely duplicate the timing being utilized. A pacing timer which allows the individual to set the identical timing sequence, which is being utilized by the athlete in the training tape, would give the user an audible and visual means of reinforcing the tape's teachings.
While there are number of devices being utilized as pacers to assist in synchronizing bodily movements, they all suffer from several drawbacks. One limitation of the prior art devices is they are unable to produce the desired number of sequential tones or sounds required for the particular sport. Further, the prior art devices do not permit the user to selectively adjust the length of the sounds or the delay time between the sounds thereby severely limiting the usefulness and adaptability of the devices.
One such prior art device is U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,868 to Kiyonaga which is specifically utilized for golf swing training and has both visual and audible alerts.
The audible alert of the '868 patent consists of three timed chimes which are initiated by one of two address plates, each having weight sensors to detect and register the appropriate shifting of weight by a golfer during execution of a golf swing. Only the time interval between the first and second chimes can be adjusted in the '868 device. Further, the duration of each chime is not adjustable. Thus, the '868 device is not believed to be adaptable to accommodate different types of synchronized bodily movements having different timing between each movement thereof.
Another prior art device is U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,480 to Gerber which is a contact pace timer which may be worn by an individual and which generates an audible signal. Although the timing between the audible signals can be adjusted by the individual, the '480 device does not permit the generation of sequential, multiple tones having selectively adjustable timing. Additionally, the user of the '480 device must manually select the new timing sequence prior to the next cycle.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved electronic pacing timer which can be utilized by different users for different synchronized multi-stepped bodily movements.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pacer of the type described which permits the user to set multiple, independent tones which are generated at appropriate times and intervals.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a pacer which can serve as a diagnostic tool to aid in the development of proper athletic techniques.
Another object of the invention is to provide a pacer which allows the user to set the pace or timing thereof according to that which is utilized by those who are highly successful in a particular activity.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a pacer which is readily adaptable to accommodate different synchronized movements and the differing requirements for each user.
This and other objects of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.